Reform UK general secretary Tom Waterhouse leaves post
Tom Waterhouse has left his role as general secretary of Reform UK, a British political party. A party spokesperson confirmed the departure, and said the party leader has appointed an interim general secretary. The Guardian reported that staff at the party's Millbank headquarters were told of the move on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
The general secretary is a senior staff post within the party. Waterhouse had been recruited to Reform UK in August 2025. Earlier, he took part in an internal party investigation, alongside Adam Richardson, into two senior officials, James Orr and Dan Jukes. That inquiry cleared them of breaking laws that ban foreign donations, while the matter was still under police investigation.
The departure follows the case of George Madgwick, who was Reform UK's leader on Hampshire County Council, a local authority in southern England. Madgwick has been charged with 12 counts of rape and one count of distributing indecent images of a child. He was arrested in January over alleged sexual offences and remained in his role nearly 10 months later. Madgwick denies any wrongdoing.
Reform UK's process for vetting candidates, the checks it carries out before people stand for the party, is now run by Paul Nuttall. He is the party's deputy chair and a former leader of the UK Independence Party (Ukip).
